Page 9

What had felt like a disaster in the making had turned out to be the best thing in the entire world. Hope. Sometimes, when the darkness and loneliness crept in and she stretched her arm across the double bed, wishing that Evan’s body was still there, warming the other side, Holly would think of that night. Her dislike of Fin and her fear of her unborn child, and it would remind her that you could never tell how life was going to turn out. It also reminded her that she’d had a love before Evan, and that maybe, just maybe, it would be possible to have one after him too. Just not yet.

When Holly, Jamie and Fin pushed through the door into the restaurant, they discovered they were the last to arrive. Caroline and Michael were already at the bar talking to Ben, whilst Giles was sitting down at their table with Georgia, and already nursing a large glass of wine.

Holly had spoken to Giles several times on the phone this week, but they hadn’t had any more video calls. The last time she’d seen him in person was at the hospital and though she wouldn’t have thought it was possible, he looked worse. His bruises had turned a sickly greeny yellow and spread all the way around his face while the bandage on his nose had been removed, showing the extent of the swelling. The cut on his head, however, seemed to be healing, but it was difficult to tell, due to the country-style flat cap he had pulled down over his forehead in a failed attempt to disguise what a state he was in.

‘Oh my God, you look terrible,’ Jamie said, cutting past Holly to give Giles a tentative hug. ‘I didn’t realise it was this bad. I’m amazed you came out.’

‘Good to see you too.’ Giles smirked.

‘You know what I mean. How are you doing?’

‘It’s all right,’ Giles said with a shrug. ‘It hurts a lot less than it did, anyway. And thankfully, I’ve had Sienna at my beck and call, being a perfect nurse.’

A high-pitched, nasal laugh rattled up behind Holly.

‘Oh, I wouldn’t say that. Just doing my best.’

As always, Sienna was dressed immaculately, but rather than her clothes, it was her height that stunned Holly the most. Six-inch heels, added to her already impressive five feet ten, meant that she towered over almost all of them. And with her cascading, blue, mini dress, she looked like she belonged on a runway, not a little country restaurant.

Several judgements ran through Holly’s mind, but she stopped herself mid-thought. They weren’t justified. She was just being catty, and that wasn’t who she wanted to be. With her focus on all the reminders Jamie and Fin had given her, and forcing herself to keep an open mind, Holly smiled broadly.

‘Sienna,’ she said. ‘It’s sounds like you’ve been doing an amazing job. I’m sure he hasn’t been the easiest patient.’

Before Holly could say any more, Sienna stepped forwards and then, without warning, engulfed Holly in a hug, squeezing so tightly, Holly thought she might crack a rib. Whatever greeting she had expected from Sienna, this definitely wasn’t it, and when she was finally released, she found herself at a loss for words. Sienna, however, already had some prepared.

‘Holly, I’m so sorry,’ she said. ‘I need to apologise before I do anything else. I was so rude to you at the hospital the other day. Can you ever forgive me?’

Stunned didn’t come close to how Holly felt at this declaration, but Sienna still wasn’t done. ‘It was the shock, you know? I guess seeing Giles like that terrified me, and then to add his sister into the mix… I’m ever so sorry. I hope we might be able to sit together during the dinner. I haven’t had much of a chance to get to know you properly and I would hate for you to use last week to build an impression of me.’

Holly couldn’t look away from Sienna. She knew it would be incredibly rude if she did, but then she didn’t need to. Even from where she was standing with her back to her best friend, she could feel the smirk on Jamie’s face. There was no way out of it now.

Trying not to show how large an inhalation she needed, Holly coaxed her face into a smile and replied, ‘That would be lovely.’

9

‘Honestly, Giles talks about you so much,’ Sienna said as she picked up the jug of water on the table and promptly filled Holly’s glass. ‘And Hope. Do you know he’s very protective of you both? He thinks of you as family.’

‘Yes, well, we’ve been through a lot.’

Rather than respond, Sienna picked up her wineglass and took a long sip.

‘He told me about his past,’ Sienna said, an unusual look of seriousness on her face. ‘About the things he did with the sweet shop when you first took over the place. Some other things he did too, involving Ben and Jamie. He sounds like he was quite a different person then.’

‘He was,’ Holly said in surprise.

Giles’s wayward past was common knowledge among the group, and they would regularly rib him for it, commenting on how they needed to be careful in case he returned to his traitorous ways. But they were friends. The lack of scruples with which he had gone through his early adulthood hardly seemed like something he’d talk to a stranger about, but then Holly reminded herself that Sienna wasn’t exactly a stranger. They were dating. Still, the relationship was obviously more serious than Holly had realised if he was telling her about those things. Those words,Aunty Sienna, sprung back into her mind, but before she could dwell on them, Sienna was talking again.

‘Hope is just adorable. I think that every time I see her. And now Giles has said that she’s got a lead part in the upcoming school concert?’

‘Well, I’m not sure I’d call it a lead part,’ Holly replied. ‘But she is playing the ukulele, and she does have to sing a solo line too.’

‘You must tell me all about it.’

By the time the main courses arrived, Holly had spent more time talking to Sienna one on one than in all their other meetings put together. Fin was right about her charity work. The passion with which she spoke about her job implied it wasn’t quite the frivolous activity that Holly had previously envisioned, even though during their conversation, she named four celebrities and countless swanky venues. And as silly as it was in comparison, Sienna appeared genuinely enthused by Holly’s own charity work for a local care home.

‘I don’t visit as much as I used to,’ Holly said with a pang of guilt. ‘To be honest, after Verity passed away, I didn’t go in for a long time. I found it too difficult. But over the last couple of years, I’ve been making more of an effort. I’ve taken Hope in a couple of times too, and hopefully, we can build that up as she gets older.’

‘Oh yes, that would be a wonderful experience for her, I’m sure.’